[Movie 2010] I Saw The Devil, 악마를 보았다

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Source: WhatCulture
25 Horror Films You Must Watch Before Halloween
15. I Saw The Devil

Kim Ji-woon’s savage thriller-horror flick is further proof that nobody does horror quite like the South Koreans. A brutal revenge film in the darkly comical vein of Oldboy, I Saw the Devil follows a secret service agent (Lee Byung-hun) as he tracks down the psychopathic serial killer (Choi Min-sik) who murdered his pregnant fiancee.
The results, unsurprisingly, are almost unbearably grim, but Ji-woon imbues his film with just enough gallows humour to balance the tone.
Best Moment: It wouldn’t be fair to spoil it as so few people have seen the film, but it involves a guillotine, and it’s both hilarious and gory.

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Credit: copabears

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Credit: sungwookim__
I Saw the Devil Blu-ray: Steel Book Limited Edition

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October 30, 2014
25 Years of the Best Asian Films
by matthewgist-54-206142 IMDb
1. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)2. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)3. To Live (1994)4. Princess Mononoke (1997)5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)6. J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000)7. Failan (2001)8. Spirited Away (2001)9. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)10. Oldboy (2003)11. 3-Iron (2004)12. A Bittersweet Life (2005)13. Fearless (2006)14. The Warlords (2007)15. The Chaser (2008)16. The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) 17. Breathless (2008)18. Thirst (2009)19. Castaway on the Moon (2009)20. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)21. Aftershock (2010)22. I Saw the Devil (2010) 7.8/10 23. The Front Line (2011)24. Masquerade (2012) 25. New World (2013)

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I Saw the Devil Steel Book
Credit: copabear

Credit: draumurz

Source: Blu-ray.com

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Source: NOVEL via twitter

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Source: Unitedcba Movies

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December 8, 2014

From East to West – Asian Horror CinemaA look at the divide between Asian and Western cinema, and why Asian horror cinema is beautifully twisted in the greatest possible way.
by Daniel Redford  | ROOBLA Opinionator
I have loved horror movies for as long as I can remember, which is a bit odd considering that my very first experience with such films was late-night channel surfing and stumbling upon Dog Soldiers (2002). The scene in question involved a few guys sitting around a campfire towards the latter half of the movie when, from the sky, a mutilated cow fell onto the campfire. At that exact moment, I got up, said “sod that” and walked out of the room. To this day, I haven’t watched that film again.
Years passed and I began consuming all of the slasher and zombie flicks I could get my hands on. Then along came The Grudge (2004) and everyone I knew lost their collective shits. This, along with The Ring (2002), signalled the start of Hollywood stealing Asian films and remaking them – or, you could argue, ruining them – for a Western demographic. Why do I say Hollywood “ruined them”? For many, those films are scary. For some, they probably still have nightmares because of them. However, they’re not on the same level as the originals from Asia.
Asian horror cinema has a style, an aesthetic and a theme all of its own. Where Western horror cinema tends to focus on in-your-face slashers and jump-scare ghost stories, the films that come out of the Far East tend be much slower, more methodical. They float along on a sea of style, plot and exquisite attention to detail, compared to the brash, scares-before-story attitude that is so indicative of the state of Hollywood in recent years. Its merit is determined, at least for modern films, on body count and how many gallons of blood were used.
Many Asian horror films tend to deal with supernatural entities – ghosts, apparitions and the like. Ringu (1998), directed by Hideo Nakata, and Ju-On (2000), directed by Takashi Shimizu have supernatural plots. Ju-On is an anthology film of sorts detailing the experiences of tenants in a curses house, whereas Ringu deals with a cursed videotape that brings death to those that watch it after seven days. The Eye (2002) tells the tale of a young girl that sees ghosts after a corneal transplant, and was remade in 2008 starring Jessica Alba – so you know it’s world class. Not.
However, where Western cinema tends to stick to the tried and true formula for horror movies, those in Asia are willing to step outside of the box. For example, EXTE (2007) is, at its roots, a film about cursed hair extensions made from a stolen corpse that continues to grow hair even in death. Uzumaki (2000) concerns a tow that becomes infected and terrorised by evil spirals. All this pales in comparison, in my opinion, to the anthology film Rampo Noir (2005). The four separate short films are taken from works by Edogawa Rampo who is considered Japan’s leading writer of erotic-grotesque fiction. The film is insane and twisted, but is also so beautifully crafted that makes it distinctly Asian.
I made a point earlier in this article that modern Western films tend to stick with violence and gore to get their shocks. I will concede that Asian cinema is also guilty of ultraviolence in movies but it is not done for the shock factor alone. Yes, it plays a part in it but the psychology and plot that surrounds it and causes it is sublime. For the best examples of this, one has to look no further than Jee-woon Kim and Chan-wook Park from South Korea. These two names, in my opinion, are some of the best in the world. Chan-wook Park gave us the Vengeance Trilogy – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), the amazing Oldboy (2003) and the beautiful Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005). Those that have been paying attention in the last year or two would have seen Spike Lee give the world his take on Oldboy in 2013, which was utterly pointless if you ask me. Jee-woon Kim gave the world A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) and A Bittersweet Life (2005).
However, his greatest work – and my favourite movie of recent memory – is I Saw The Devil (2010). This is the one film that I believe gives us the greatest example of Asian cinema firing on all cylinders. It tells the story of NIS Agent Soo-hyun (Byung-hun Lee) on a destructive path of revenge after the brutal murder of his fiancée by the psychopathic Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi). It’s superviolent but beautiful. Harsh but poignant. High-octane but thoughtful. It makes you feel bad. It punches you in the face and revels in your confusion and mixed emotions. The performances of the two main actors, Min-sik Choi and Byung-hun Lee are worthy of the highest of awards. They embody the characters so wonderfully, with such commitment and zeal, that the film transcends its basic revenge plotline and becomes a film that should be regarded with the utmost respect.
I will be diving deeper into films mentioned in this article at a later date, but I leave you with this: if you are a fan of horror cinema and have only been exposed to Western cinema, I implore you, beg you, to broaden your horizons. Any of the films I have mentioned here are a good introduction to the genre, so pick one, buy the DVD off of Amazon, import if you have to and just revel in their brilliance.

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Poster credit: Phantom City Creative
Our unofficial concept poster for Ji-woon Kim’s serial killer horror film, I Saw The Devil.

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February 26, 2015

‘I SAW THE DEVIL’ IS PERVERSE FUN
Jacob Holley-Kline The Northen Light
Rating: 4 out of 5

Revenge flicks have been done and redone to death. Man loves woman, woman is killed, man avenges woman’s death. Who avenges whom is interchangeable, but the formula stays the same for a reason: It works. What sets “I Saw the Devil” apart from a standard revenge flick is the intense emotion running through it.
Dedicated secret agent Soo-hyun’s (Lee Byung-hun, “RED 2”) plans to marry his pregnant wife, Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh). While he’s on a job one night, Joo-yeon is killed by psychopathic bus driver Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik, “Lucy”). With nothing left to lose, Soo-hyun begins a deadly game of cat and mouse to exact his revenge.
“I Saw the Devil” could, in some respects, be called a road movie. Soo-hyun chases Kyung-chul across a big stretch of Korea, meeting people who give new meaning to the word “depraved.” With this travel comes wild fluctuations in tone and style, but thanks to the deft direction of Kim Ji-woon, it never feels jarring.
One sequence in particular is exemplary. At one point, a cab driver picks up Kyung-chul while he’s down on his luck. Things devolve in the car and knives are pulled. In a spinning single take, director Ji-woon watches the carnage unfold from 360 degrees. By the time it’s over, the viewer is left breathless. Interjections like this sequence keep the action fresh.
Speaking of action, every mile covered brings about a new and intensely gory set piece. Where the first act is a surprising emotional gut punch, the second is a visceral thrill ride. If it weren’t for the incredible performances of Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, these sequences wouldn’t have half the kick they do.
But thanks to a solid screenplay and actors brave enough to plumb its bloody depths, every gunshot becomes teeth-rattling. With a hard violent shell and a gooey heart, “I Saw the Devil” becomes something transcendent in the revenge genre. Make no mistake: The movie is taken with violence. It’s simply filthy at every turn. After all, watching two monsters go head-to-head is bound to dirty up the place.
This hard-hearted revenge flick doesn’t clean up its mess anyway. It forces viewers to look at who started the violence, who continued it, and whether or not they’re that different. If Soo-hyun’s penchant for cruelty is any indication, they may not be. But does his cruelty reach Kyung-chul’s heights? Deciding just who the devil is in “I Saw the Devil” is a big part of the fun, and viewers with the stomach for it will find themselves more than satisfied.

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Photo credit: beomsok

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Photo credit: beomsok

#steelbook #bluray #김지운
#악마를보았다 #이병헌 #최민식
#plainarchive
#propaganda
#isawthedevil
#leebyunghun
#choiminsik
#kimjeewoon

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From article at RollingStone, complete list here

25 Best Modern Exploitation Movies
From sex-and-violence revenge flicks to blaxploitation spaghetti Westerns, meet the new grindhouse classics

24    'I Saw the Devil' (2010)

Subgenres: K-sploitation, Revengespolitation, Serialkillersploitation

Cannibalism, torture, graphic execution by guillotine — Kim Ji-woon's revenge parable may be one of the more morally complicated South Korean ultra-violent thrillers to hit our shores in recent years, but it's also one of the sickest as well. The story is basic: A lawman (Terminator Genisys' Lee Byung-hun) goes after the psychopath (Oldboy's Choi Min-sik) who murdered his pregnant wife. They each take turns playing the cat and mouse of the equation, while the movie compellingly asks: How do good people destroy evil without becoming rotten themselves? But don't look for answers to that question here — this is the sort of Asian exploitation cinema that takes pleasure in sticking its fingers in wounds. As for the killer, Choi plays him with such blasé soulnessness it's chilling: He's the personification of the abyss staring back. TG

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August 8, 2015

16 Great Movies That Show You Why 2010 Is a Big Year for Asian Cinema

BY JOHN BERNTSSON Taste of Cinema

2010 was a great year for Asian cinema with excellent efforts such as Takashi Miike’s old school samurai film 13 Assassins, Korean thrillers including I Saw the Devil and The Man From Nowhere, and the Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

There are also some more obscure films worthy of recognition such as the Korean thriller The Yellow Sea and IP Man 2. What marks 2010 in the world of Asian Cinema is one particular genre, the revenge picture. The year featured many revenge films showcasing realistic bloodshed, somber story lines, a sense of hope and bold emotions. This list contains the top 15 Asian films from the year of 2010.

1. 13 Assassins

2. Poetr

3. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

4. I Saw the Devil

This is one of the most violent films ever made. The talent collaborating on this picture is quite amazing. Director Jee-woon Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life), joined with brilliant actor Byung-hun Lee and the great Choi-min Sik. The film has fantastic production values, great cinematography, brilliant acting and a terrific script. However, many question the film’s content.

The action follows Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee) on a path of vengeance against monstrous Kyung-chul (Choi-min Sik). That man stalks, rapes and brutally kills women, using their flesh in a most beastly way. He killed Kim’s pregnant fiancee and since Kim is an expertly trained agent with special acquired skills, he is a worthy opponent. Kim beats Kyung-chel severely, puts a tracking device on him, and gives him time to recover only so he can be beaten again.

It is a cat and mouse game, but not repetitive or boring. It may not be as profound as some other great Korean revenge pictures but what it does have is grit. It’s a tough and demanding picture.

5. Confessions

6. Bedevilled

7. The Man From Nowhere

8. Cold Fish

9. Outrage

10. The Secret World of Arrietty

11. The Yellow Sea

12. Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City

13. Ip Man 2

14. My Name is Khan

15. True Legend

16. Revenge: A Love Story

Author bio: John Berntsson is a 23 year old Swedish film aficionado who loves all film from Bergman and Tarkovsky to 70’s kung fu and blaxploitation. His zero budget short films can be seen on his Youtube channel where he goes under the name of John Davidsson/MacaroniCombat.

 

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October 2, 2015

The 21st Century’s Best Horror Movies (So Far)

Don Kaye Den of Geek

15 years in, we survey two dozen of the horror genre’s finest efforts this century.

Every once in a while, someone likes to declare that the horror genre is dead, and so far, every one of those predictions has been wrong. Horror movies have been around almost as long as filmmaking itself, and while the genre has always been cyclical in nature --dipping, sometimes drastically, in both quality and quantity from time to time -- all it usually takes is a well-timed box office hit, a fresh new angle or a hot young filmmaker to reanimate it again.

The 21st century has been, overall, an extremely healthy one for horror. There’s been the usual amount of dross, of course, but the genre has branched out in a number of interesting new directions as well. We had absolutely no problem tallying 24 movies for this article, and could probably do another 24 without breaking much of a sweat. But for now, here are two dozen terrifying favorites that you can use for your own personal Halloween film festival -- and we promise that this lineup delivers.

24. I Saw the Devil (2010)

Director Kim Ji-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) sends an intelligence agent (Lee Byung-hun) on a mission of vengeance against a sadistic serial killer (Choi Min-sik) in this shocking and stunningly depraved cat and mouse thriller in which all notions of morality go out the window along with numerous bloody body parts. Yet Kim keeps you invested in the characters as well, and this Korean epic has an undertone of sadness that’s hard to shake. Kim holds it all together masterfully, creating a horrifying experience like nothing else we saw the year it came out.

23. Martyrs (2008)

22. The Others (2001)

21. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

20. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

19. Trick 'R Treat (2007)

18. 28 Days Later (2002)

17. The Strangers (2008)

16. Kairo (2001)

15. Mulholland Drive (2001)

14. Insidious (2011)

13. Paranormal Activity (2010)

12. It Follows (2014)

11. [REC] (2007)

10. The Orphanage (2006)

9. The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

8. The Mist (2007)

7. Session 9 (2001)

6. The Ring (2002)

5. The Descent (2005)

4. Kill List (2011)

3. The Babadook (2014)

2. The Devil's Backbone (2001)

1. Let the Right One In / Let Me In (2008/2010)

That’s our list -- did we miss any of your favorites that you’d like to add? 

 

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#ISawTheDevil #ChoiMinSik #LeeByungHun #KimJiWoon

Credit: Dir. Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT)

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July 4, 2015

I SAW THE DEVIL, reckless revenge [Korean Movie Review]
Kim Ji-woon’s brutal revenge thriller I Saw the Devil (2010) is not for the faint of heart.

Review by The Movie Beat

The Film: Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik) is a ruthless serial killer who picks the wrong man’s fiance to brutally murder. The dead woman’s fiance is Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun), a skilled fighter who works for the National Intelligence Service. When he finds out about the murder, he takes the law into his own hands and sets off on his path for revenge.

I Saw the Devil has gone down in the books as one of the great revenge films to come out of Korea, if not in all of world cinema. Directed by Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) (A Bittersweet Life), this is a sleekly shot, brutal tale of revenge that battled the censorship boards in Korea before its release. After three re-edits, it was finally approved to have an 18+ rating and suitable for a wide theatrical release in 2010. Even with the edits, the film contains intense sequences of violence that can probably make even the more hardened film goers wince at times.

Veteran actor Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) (Crying Fist) pulls of a perfect performance portraying the psychotic killer. He truly has us convinced that he is evil incarnate and the last man you ever want to accidentally bump into.

Lee Byung-hun’s character first appears in a black and white suit and looks exactly like his character right out of A Bittersweet Life (2005). He has excellent combat skills that he puts to good use as he dishes out some relentless beatings upon the killer. His pursuit of the ultimate vengeance was a cool concept, but I was slightly off-put by the destructive and unintended side effects that ensued and that he ultimately causes more harm to others. Also, the actions of the police and detectives leave you shocked at their inability to handle the crimes being committed left and right. Whether this was an intended comment on the skills of the police in Korea or not I do not know.

Impressive performances aside, there are some great technical achievements on display as well. One of which is the superb lighting. It is unusual to make a comment on something like the lighting but many scenes were so well lit that it is worth praising. The use of reds and yellows in dark settings as Choi Min-sik embodies the devilish killer gives off the feeling that he really is from hell. The film is also tightly edited and there is a lot of tension brewing in scenes that will surely have you jump at times.

I Saw the Devil is an extremely popular revenge film around the world for the reasons stated above. If your a fan of Park Chan-wook’s revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) and are not turned off by graphic violence, then I Saw the Devil comes highly recommended. It is slightly too long, but it is an intense ride that I will surely take again.

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December 2, 2015

Park Chan-wook tops revenge chart

Source: The Korea Times

From top, scenes from "Sympathy from Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Oldboy" (2003) and "Lady Vengeance"

Film director Park Chan-wook has topped an American movie-ranking website's chart for the best Korean revenge movies, with his "vengeance trilogy."

Website "Taste of Cinema" posted "The 10 Best South Korean Revenge Movies."

Topping the list was Park's trilogy "Sympathy from Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Oldboy" (2003) and "Lady Vengeance" (2005).

Park is a frequent guest at prominent global film festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival with "Thirst" in 2009 and the Berlin Film Festival with "Night Fishing" in 2011.

Park's films portray brutal vengeance by a main character.

  
From left, posters for "I Saw the Devil" (2010), "Mother" (2009), "The Man from Nowhere" (2010) and "Pieta"

In "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," Song Kang-ho played a vengeful protagonist, while Choi Min-sik and Lee Young-ae each played a similar role in "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance," respectively.

Calling Park "the master of revenge," the website explains that the characters"are victims of a series of circumstances that soon become their own collection of tragedies."

On a news program on CBS Radio on Wednesday, actress Lee Jung-hyun, who won the Best Actress Award for "Alice in Earnestland" at the Blue Dragon Awards on Nov. 26, said Park had strongly encouraged her to take the role.

Park's trilogy was followed in order by "I Saw the Devil" (2010), "Mother" (2009), "The Man from Nowhere" (2010) and "Pieta" (2012). 

aoshima11@ktimes.com

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Clip credit: amplified_void

#ISawTheDevil #LeeByungHun #PissedMode

 

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Artwork credit: aaronlhg #ISawTheDevil #LeeByungHun #ChoiMinSik #Art